


Return to Earth

by thenakednymph



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Everyone is Dead, I am so sorry, I firmly believe they actually all got out alive and eventually Lance finds them again, Keith and Lance are okay, M/M, Minor Character Death, Oh My God, The major character death tag is NOT relevant, There is no fluff, What Have I Done, everyone is fine in the main cast, he comes back and they’re all gone, its just right now he thinks they’re gone, it’s just...Lance’s family isn’t, lance’s family is not, only suffering, public apology to Lance McClain, this is literally the worst AU, why did I write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-30 01:45:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16755496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenakednymph/pseuds/thenakednymph
Summary: Voltron returns to Earth to find it underGalra control. Lance bolts for Varadero.~This is the bad timeline.





	Return to Earth

**Author's Note:**

> What have I done. This is the worst AU. Oh my god.
> 
> The major character death tag isn’t actually for the death of a main, just a general warning.

When they get back to Earth it’s under Galra control. And it’s utterly destroyed. That doesn’t stop Lance from breaking for Cuba the first chance he gets. Fear has him racing blind to his home but when he gets there it’s nothing but rubble. Varadero is a burned out husk of what it once was.

The waves crashing against the shore mock every memory Lance has of home as he stands outside what was once his house. Now it’s nothing more than a hole in the ground. The entire area is nothing more than upheaved rock and scorched earth. Soot blackens the beach. The only thing that remains unchanged is the water, still crystal clear as he remembers. It sounds exactly the same. It has no right to still look that beautiful.

Lance’s bayard hits the ground, his knees giving out. He hits hard, the impact shaking up through his thigh, resonating through his body but he can’t feel it. He can’t hear. Can’t make the sight in front of him make sense. He doesn’t understand. There’s nothing left.

“My family…” He can’t make the image before him match the memories, can’t make them make sense. Everything feels fractured, the pieces not overlapping or fitting together like they should.

He sways dangerously and then Keith is there, blocking the view and breath slams into Lance.

“They’re gone,” he whispers but his voice gains momentum, rising with terror and heartache. “It’s gone, Keith- Keith they’re gone, they’re gone they’re gone.” He’s rambling but he can’t hear a word of what he’s saying. He has to keep blinking to clear his vision. He can’t pull his eyes away.

Keith’s hands are pulling off his helmet, holding his face, trying to get him to look at him.

“Lance come back.” He tries to get Lance to focus but his eyes stare right through him, his breathing so fast he’s going to pass out if he doesn’t stop.

“You have to slow down, breathe.” His fingers are warm on Lance’s skin even through his gloves but Lance can’t feel it.

“I know,” Keith whispers, agony in his voice, in his eyes, “I know.” He wipes the tears from Lance’s cheeks, more falling to drip from his chin. His eyes are wide and dazed, unfocused and then he’s screaming.

And Keith sees it, sees the moment Lance’s heart shatters, his body crumpling—a ruined fortress tumbling to the ground and it’s devastating to watch. Keith gathers him into his arms, crushing Lance to his chest, desperate to ground him in the storm of his grief. He knows what it feels like to drown.

He drags Lance’s head down to his shoulder, trying to shield him from the pain that’s ripping him apart, from the devastation at Keith’s back and he’s still screaming.

“Oh sweetheart I know,” he whispers almost without thinking. He doesn’t know where the endearment comes from but he means it.

Love wells up inside him like a spring, rushing to fill the void in Lance’s heart, in his life, to soothe away the searing emptiness. He knows it’s not enough, nothing is but he tries anyway.

He kisses Lance’s hair again and again and then he’s pulling at Lance’s armor, stripping it off along with his own.

He remembers the way his whole world ended when his father died, how badly he needed the weight of another body against his. He can only imagine how much this must be hurting Lance whose family was everything to him.

Keith pulls Lance back to his chest, their bodies flush and Lance is sobbing, choking on it, his fingers scrabbling at Keith’s back, desperate for an anchor. His nails are cutting and sharp until they find their way to Keith’s shoulders, pulling him harder, crushing them together like Keith’s presence alone is enough to staunch the bleeding hole in his chest where his heart used to be. Jagged sounds tear from Lance’s mouth like shattered glass, each one cutting Keith to the bone.

“I’m sorry baby, I’m so sorry.” He’s dizzy on shock and Lance’s pain, blames that for the second slip of the tongue. He doesn’t know what to do so he does the only thing he can: holds Lance and lets him know he’s not alone.

He holds him until Lance cries himself out, his hands slipping from Keith’s shoulders to fall limp at his sides like dead weight. He’s leaning into Keith to stay upright. All the fight has gone out of him.

Keith strokes a hand over Lance’s hair, his head still resting on Keith’s shoulder.

“Close your eyes,” he whispers. He doesn’t want him to have to look at it again. Lance closes his eyes and Keith sits him up, kissing his eyelids, cradling Lance’s face in his hands, afraid to let him go.

“Keep them closed.” He pulls Lance into his arms and stands, carrying him away from the devastation, whispering reassurances into Lance’s skin. He takes him all the way to Red, draping him in a blanket and removing the last of their armor. Lance’s eyes are vacant, rogue tears sliding down his cheeks every few minutes. He’s stopped blinking.

Keith pulls a blanket up over them both, coaxing Lance down onto the bed and he goes willingly. Keith never stops whispering to him. He doesn’t know if it’s helping, Lance has stopped responding to outside stimuli.

“I don’t know how to help you.” He strokes Lance’s cheek, thumbing away more tears. Lance finally closes his eyes and tucks himself under Keith’s chin and Keith holds him, hands running idle patterns on his back, his arms, through his hair, anything he can reach. He doesn’t know how to make this better.

Lance presses his nose to Keith’s neck and shudders, another sob slipping from him. Keith tangles their legs together, pulling Lance flush against him.

“I’m here.” Keith can’t stop kissing him, can’t stop touching and only prays Lance won’t hate him when all this is over. He doesn’t know what else to do. “I’m here.” It feels like a promise.

He feels Red wrapping her mind around them, the quiet and dark and Red’s deep love for them both creating a protective cocoon that helps to numb the pain. Keith only wishes it were enough to protect Lance from the reality outside.

He’d give anything to change what’s happened. Anything.

**Author's Note:**

> I-??? What the FUCK


End file.
